Yorkshire People and Coal

Yorkshire People & Coal is the third title in Peter Tuffrey’s Yorkshire People series, featuring photographs from the Yorkshire Post’s picture archives. This volume makes use of the wealth of pictures and information held in the Yorkshire Post’s archives on the county’s long association with coal. Peter believes there has never been a period in coal mining’s long history as eventful as the previous forty to fifty years and many of the pictures contained here are from that time. Images have been carefully selected to show how coal has had a wide-ranging effect on Yorkshire life. Most aspects of colliery life are depicted and not surprisingly several themes dominate throughout: disasters, strikes and pit closures. It might be that coal is becoming a fading memory to those who lived through the trials and tribulations of the past fifty or more years and present generations might find it hard to imagine a time when it was relied upon to provide heating, energy and a means of travel. However it cannot be denied that coal has left an indelible mark on Yorkshire’s long industrial history and its final glory years are aptly portrayed in Yorkshire People & Coal.